Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Took the Blame
Michael looked like a man who had spent six years running from his own shadow.
His tuxedo was torn. Blood covered one side of his face, and his right hand shook slightly as he held the pistol.
Luca approached him.
“You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Michael gave a bitter smile.
“That's an understatement.”
“Where were you?”
“Trying to keep Father from finding you.”
“Why did you tell Vanessa I was dead?”
Michael looked toward Elena.
“Because I thought you were.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“Explain.”
Michael lowered his weapon.
“Six years ago, Father arranged an explosion outside the hotel where Elena was staying. He wanted everyone to believe she had died in the fire. But he didn't know she'd escaped through the service entrance.”
Elena shook her head.
“I never saw an explosion.”
“Because you weren't there when it happened. Father moved you to the medical facility first.”
Michael continued.
“Afterward, Father told me you had been killed. He showed me a body and a dental report. I believed him.”
“You knew Elena was alive,” Luca said.
“Not then.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two years later.”
Luca stared at him.
“And you didn't tell me?”
Michael's eyes filled.
“Because Father showed me the surveillance footage from the night you were supposed to die.”
Silence.
“What footage?”
Michael took a small flash drive from his pocket.
“Watch it.”
Dominic connected it to the computer.
A grainy video appeared.
Luca saw himself walking into a hotel corridor six years earlier.
He was carrying a bottle of champagne.
A man approached him.
Then the image jumped.
The next scene showed a woman being carried out of the building.
Elena.
Luca stepped closer.
“That's not possible. I was at the restaurant that night.”
Michael nodded.
“That's what Father told everyone. But you weren't. He drugged you and brought you to the hotel. He wanted you to be seen near Elena's room.”
“Why?”
“To make it look like you killed her.”
Luca stared at the screen.
Then the footage continued.
A second man entered the room.
Michael.
He was carrying a medical bag.
He helped Elena escape.
Luca turned toward him.
“You helped her?”
Michael nodded.
“I found out she was pregnant. Father wanted the child erased. I couldn't let that happen.”
“Where was Sofia?”
“I got her out. I arranged for a nurse to take her to Wisconsin.”
Elena's knees nearly buckled.
“You saved my baby?”
“I tried.”
“Then why did she disappear?”
Michael looked down.
“Because I was followed. The nurse was killed two years later.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Luca grabbed his brother's shoulder.
“Where is Sofia now?”
Michael hesitated.
“Father has her.”
“Where?”
“I don't know. He moved her twice. But I know why he wants her.”
Michael opened another file.
It contained a document titled THE MORETTI TRUST.
The document stated that the family fortune would pass to Luca's first legitimate child if he died without a surviving spouse.
But there was a hidden clause.
If Luca's first child was legally declared dead, Antonio could take temporary control of the trust.
And if Luca married another woman, that marriage could invalidate Elena's original claim.
Vanessa looked at the paperwork.
“So the wedding was never about me.”
“No,” Michael said. “It was about making sure Elena could never return as Luca's legal wife.”
Luca looked at Vanessa.
“Did you know?”
She shook her head.
“Not about the trust.”
Michael gave her a cold look.
“You knew enough.”
Vanessa didn't argue.
Then Michael turned toward Luca.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“Father wasn't the one who ordered the original attack.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“Who was?”
Michael looked at the photograph of Isabella.
“Your mother.”
The words landed like a second explosion.
“That makes no sense.”
“She arranged for Daniel Russo to disappear. She wanted you raised as Antonio's son because she believed it would protect you.”
Luca shook his head.
“Why would she do that?”
“Because Daniel wasn't just your father.”
Michael paused.
“He was Antonio's greatest enemy.”
A sudden alarm began ringing.
Red lights flashed across the underground room.
Dominic rushed toward the staircase.
“Fire. The upper floor is burning.”
Michael grabbed the flash drive.
“We have to move.”
Luca looked at the files.
“Take everything.”
They rushed toward the stairs.
But before they reached the door, the metal entrance slammed shut.
A loud mechanical lock engaged.
Then Antonio's voice came through the speakers.
“Family reunion's over.”
A screen lit up.
Antonio appeared, seated in a leather chair.
Behind him stood a little girl.
Sofia.
Elena screamed.
Antonio placed one hand on the child's shoulder.
“Hello, Luca.”
Luca moved toward the screen.
“Touch her, and I'll destroy everything you own.”
Antonio smiled.
“You still don't understand, son.”
He leaned toward the camera.
“I'm not holding your daughter hostage.”
He paused.
“I'm protecting her from you.”
Then Sofia looked directly into the camera.
And whispered something that made Elena collapse.
May you like
“Mommy, why did you leave me with Grandpa?”
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